Locking devices for cabinets, drawers, access panels, lockers, and other furniture items can take many forms. In one example, a dead bolt lock is attached to a door or other access panel. When the door or panel is closed, a user can turn a knob or key, and the dead bolt will extend out from a lock housing into a strike plate or behind the door frame to lock the door closed. The user can turn the knob or key back to the original position, and the dead bolt will retract back into its housing, thereby unlocking the door and allowing the user to open it.
In another example, a push-to-close latch is similarly attached to a door or panel and has a latch with a ramp end. The latch is spring-biased to a locked position and extends outwardly from the housing. As the user closes the door, the latch contacts the strike plate. The strike plate then forces the latch inward against the spring force as the door continues to close. After the latch clears the strike plate, the spring forces the latch to its extended position behind the door frame and the door becomes locked. To open the door or panel, the user can, for example, turn a key or rotate a handle to retract the latch back into the housing.
In a third example, locks known as cam locks can be used to lock a door or panel closed. The construction of mechanical cam locks are well known in the art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 9,512,653, at 1:28-37: “Cam locks correspond to a relatively well known lock type that finds many uses in securing enclosures including for example, but not limited to, cabinets, drawers, and desks. Typically, in cam lock applications, the cam, upon rotation, contacts the inside of an associated enclosure frame or a strike fitted to such frame.” Cam locks typically include a cylinder that is disposed in a complementary opening in the door or panel.
In all three of these examples, the lock structure is typically hidden behind or in the door, and the only element visible to the user is the knob or key slot. In other words, there is no indication to the user as to the lock's status. It would be desirable for locks such as the above to include a user interface extending through the door that includes an indicator to quickly and efficiently inform the user whether the lock was locked or unlocked. Further, for an electronic lock, it would be desirable for that user interface to either alternatively or additionally provide a connector for an electronic key that can, for example, open the lock, program the lock, provide power to the lock, or any combination of functions.
Moreover, many furniture items are sold with basic mechanical cam locks. In some instances, it may be desirable to be replace those cam locks with electronic locks disposed behind the door panel. It would be desirable for the user interface to be sized and shaped to be inserted into the cylindrical hole left behind by the removed mechanical cam lock. Cam locks, however, may be placed on the door panel with varying backsets—the distance from the cylindrical hole to the edge of the door. It would be desirable for the user interface to be laterally adjustable to accommodate the varying backsets of mechanical cam locks.